Ocean of Tears
by Lyra Kamiya
Summary: Ash has been apparently lost to the sea... Is Misty actually planning to join him?
1. Default Chapter

A/N: alright, I got sick of playing my guitar (I can't get the cords right for the chorus of Brick Wall…) and was staring off at my all blue room, searching for inspiration for the semi-doomed Human series… when it hit me. No, not an idea, my little cousin's stuffed kitty. But I did get an idea… for an entirely new story. And just so you people know, I'm on an angst run this… century? So though I can guarantee no sad ending, the thing's pretty depressing at first.

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Ocean of Tears

Lyra Kamiya

Misty sat on the bank outside of Olivine City, gazing at the sparkling waters of the ocean. The ocean… she'd loved it her whole life, loved all water. But now… she hated it right now. All she could do is curse at it, for what it had done, for what it had taken from her. The one thing she loved more than the water had been lost to it...

"Ash…" she whispered his name again, stroking the fur of his sleeping Pikachu as she struggled to hold back tears. She'd sat, hoping against all hope that he'd come back, riding happily on his Croconaw's back just as gleeful as he had been when he'd left, claiming he'd be back within an hour. He was off to search for the quickest route to their next destinastion, searching out an island they could camp on for the night. But as he had neared the horizon… the wave, and the current… she wasn't fully sure what had happened. She'd done all she could, to try to get out far enough and save him, but… All she'd found, was a very sad, confused looking Croconaw and Ash's backpack.

Then, the next morning, it had washed up on shore. His hat, his most prized possession.

She looked at the bag on her back, and the hat to her side, and silently cursed herself for keeping them. The bag was waterproof, so everything inside it had stayed as it had been… and it all smelled of Ash. It would have been surprising, to anyone else, to have found out that she knew his smell, but…

So, so many cold nights, more and more since Brock had left them a few weeks earlier, she'd either laid down beside him in their tent after he'd drifted off to sleep, or they would voluntarily have curled up together to keep warm in the cold, as winter was setting in in the more northern areas they'd been travelling through. She'd familiarized herself with his exact earthy aroma, and memorized the contours of his face. So she could still smell his soft scent on the contents of the pack, and it severely agitated her… It brought his face to her mind every time she got too close to it. It seemed to be of some solace to Pikachu, however, just a small reminder of what his old owner had been like.

They were the only two who knew, that Ash was gone. Her other pokémon, and Croconaw, had been told he'd be back soon enough. She knew, though, that eventually they'd figure out that he wasn't going to return.

But would she? Would she ever give up and go back to reality… face the fact that he had been lost to the sea, that he was… dead. Gone forever. She'd have to tell his family, and their other friends too…

"Pikachu… Pikachu, wake up," she whispered, a lump forming in her throat as she contemplated her next move. "Listen, Pikachu, I'm gonna go for a little walk along the beach, alright? I'm taking some of my stuff with me… I might camp out. If I do, I'll be back tomorrow morning, you take the stuff and hide it somewhere safe until then, ok?" Pikachu nodded slowly, and Misty started to walk slowly across the soft sand, the tide dancing around her ankles in the moonlight.

"Pikachupi?"

Misty turned back around and looked at Pikachu for a moment, staring at the small rodent and trying to avoid crying. "No, you stay here. I need to get away from the thought of Ash for a little while, and you'll only make me remember him, sorry…" she kneeled and let him nuzzle her leg, and she sighed heavily as she ran her fingers through his coarse yellow fur. "You're lonely, aren't you…" she sighed. "I could let Togetic out, you two could play…"

"Pika… Pikapi, Pika…" Pikachu looked out over the water, tears shimmering in his tiny brown eyes.

"Ash isn't the only one you miss, is he… You miss Bayleef too, right, and that's why you said her name too?" Pikachu nodded slowly at her, and climbed into her outstretched arms, rubbing the top of his head to her chin in an attempt to cheer himself up. Misty rocked him gently, gazing up into the dimming twilight at the first few stars of the night. "We both lost love to the ocean, Pikachu… But even if Ash isn't, I know Bayleef is out there somewhere, waiting to be let out of her pokéball to see you again," she said softly, smiling weakly as Pikachu's eyes shone lightly with the smallest glimmer of hope. "Hey, maybe I'll even find her as I walk along the beach? So, you stay here, and guard Ash's stuff. I'll be back ASAP…" she forced a smile on her face and set off across the barren sandscape, towards an outcropping of small cliffs beside the ocean. She would set her plan in motion, as soon as she was behind those rocks and out of sight. She glanced behind her slowly, lowering her head in defeat at Pikachu's sad face a ways back now. Much as she had tried to hide it from him, he probably knew what she was planning. She quickened her pace as she felt the evening chill increase.

__

I'm sorry, Pikachu, but I won't feel right until I've done this… she sighed, marching along the sinking tide like a soldier off to battle. To a battle she knew she would not live through…

She gazed out at the ocean one last time, taking her shoes off slowly and placing them and her backpack above the tide line, out of sight as well. Not that she expected to return to them. She walked towards the water, feeling it cover her feet and then ankles, as she walked deeper and deeper into the calm, slowly rolling water, and then shivered lightly as she realized her decision fully for the first time, and plunged her head under the water, swimming off towards the horizon, at which she expected death but was honestly unsure of her destiny.

Pikachu heard the soft splash a short distance from his location, and sighed as he watched Misty's form moving slowly away over the gentle waves. He no longer had a master, for all he knew, for he knew Misty did not mean to return. But still, he would sit, watching, waiting, beside the ocean.

o.o' that was fairly depressing… my ho-oh, to be continued, I promise! Oh, and this is supposed to take place later on in the show, and anyone who does their research knows that Chikorita evolves, and moves on to Pikachu instead of Ash. Croconaw… I needed Ash to have a pokémon worthy of surf. Review, please! Ja ne!


	2. 2

… *blink, blink* §stares for a moment at the reviews§ Oh… my… Ho-oh… people LIKE it!!! Ok, that's it, I must make this as successful as my other pokefics (Well, Human anyway)… thank you all for the reviews… so here ya go…

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Ocean of Tears

Lyra Kamiya

A silent form washed up on the beach of a nameless island. Slowly it stirred and looked around, brown eyes shining in the dawning morning light. The ocean shimmering under the moonlight along with the brightening sky and white, sandy beach created an image that could have been mistaken for heaven. And with what it had just been through, the figure thought that was what it was in, for it doubted it could be alive.

**********

Misty opened her eyes and looked around, helpless as she realized she was still alive and had been beached. But it was clear she was no where near her starting place the night before… She'd taken to the water and swam until she could no more, rolling to her back and floating along, falling asleep with the gentle rocking motion of the waves. She had expected, and almost wanted, that she'd never wake up again, that after she'd gone to sleep on the ocean she'd sink, or at least drift too far from land to make it back. But no, she'd lived with the water her whole life… she trusted the water, and it was almost as if it trusted her, too. She'd lived with it, and thus could not die with it.

"So is this what fate has dealt me, instead? Washed up on a deserted island, destined to die here, from starving, and not amongst the waves where I feel at home?" she asked herself, knowing there was no possible answer. She gazed slowly across the beach… if she looked away, into the vegetation, she could see the other side of the island. But it was obviously a lot longer in other direction, and the trees so thick she could not see the other side in that direction… and thus she headed off, to explore the perimeter of her temporary home, a death bed in her mind.

She glanced across the sky, looking towards the east, as she discerned the direction to be from the sun's position. She'd come from the north… she sighed. For all she knew, she could have swam a mile or so south of the shore, only to be swept far to the west by some ocean current. She followed her course in her mind… she'd swam until the shore was almost out of sight, then let herself be washed away with the current. Ash had gone about the same distance, so… was it possible? Misty halted at the mere thought. She had assumed the worst, that Ash had drowned, but what if, whatever current had carried her, had carried him as well? Most likely not to the same island, but still, if there were others nearby… but there was no way of telling which way he'd be, nearer or farther, or even if he *had* been taken by the same water pattern. But as long as there was that hope… she was going to try. First this island, then the next, then any others she could find, until she drowned out there.

She stared out over the waves for a moment, her mind racing and adrenaline running as her determination grew. "Where are you… where are you…" she whispered. "ASH!!!!"

**********

Slowly, the boy with brown eyes sat up and looked around. It felt significantly like something was missing around him, but… He didn't know what. He couldn't exactly think of anything right now… He was to busy trying to figure out what his name was. Pokéballs laid, scattered about, further confusing the black haired teen. He knew, who and what was in each of the pokéballs, and they certainly knew him upon being let out. But anything about himself he was at a loss to. Why was he here, on this island? He remembered being swept away, across the current, but other than that… nothing. He'd at first, thought he was dead, but if he was, why would his pokémon be with him? Surely, they were his, since they'd been attached to his belt. He wanted to get back, to wherever he'd been. He thought… that there was someone there, waiting for him. Maybe more than one 'someone', he wasn't sure…

He wandered along the beach, the temperature slowly rising as the day drew on… he wandered over, to the edge of the trees, and sat in the shrinking shade with a sigh. He had figured out at least one thing; he wasn't from a tropical climate. He wouldn't have been dumb enough to be wearing a black shirt, jacket, and jeans if he was. Then, it struck him, that the simplest solution was to ditch a good deal of the heavier clothes. He threw the jacket to the ground and began to rip off the jeans at the knees. He knew he didn't belong here, and he wasn't sure how long he'd be stuck on that island, but he sure knew that he'd just *have* to have extra sets of clothes elsewhere, so it didn't matter how ratted these clothes got. He tore another section off the pieces of jean he'd thrown to the side, putting it into his pocket. He could use it, if he needed to carry something or had to bandage an injury. As he walked away from the pile of items, he was suddenly struck by how much lighter it all felt- lighter than it should. There must have been something else in that jacket… 

He picked it up and dug through the pockets, shocked as impossible numbers of items seemed to just appear from the empty-looking pouches. The only item that he found of interest, however, was a small, rectangular, bright red device. He clicked it open, and a picture shown on the screen, along with a name. 'Trainer's license. Ash Ketchum of Pallet, Kanto' read the caption. "Am I… or did I steal this? no, I couldn't have… That, that must be my name…" he stared at the item for a moment, then at the others he'd pulled from the pockets, and finally made a decision. Most this stuff was clearly valuable… there was only one good option, he *had* to take the stuff with him. He pulled off the black T-shirt, casting it into a pile with the jean scraps, donning the jacket instead. It felt a bit peculiar to him, but it was more logical than the alternative.

"Ya ready," he started to say, spinning around and looking behind him. He had expected someone to be there… a pokémon, that belonged to one of the two empty pokéballs… but what, he wasn't sure. He sighed again, reaching up to adjust a non-existent cap and then started walking, still confused. He'd figured it out by now, he had amnesia. But what use was that fact, with no way to fix it.

He looked to the sky, hearing the frantic call of Pidgeys, startled by something elsewhere, and continued to walk along the beach. "Ash…" came a whisper on the wind, that clearly was originally much more of a noise than it had been when it reached him. But no matter how silenced it was from it's original version, it still sparked something in his mind. _A flash of orange, the glint of a teal eye … a gentle giggle…_ the images and sound hit him suddenly from an unknown sector of his mind. He spun around frantically, hoping to see the source of the vaguely familiar sound.

"Who?" he panicked, glancing around. "I know…" he whispered, feeling his mind and chest lock up at the same exact time. "I know… the voice… HELLO?!!!" he called back into the blue oblivion, spurring more Pidgeys from their roost. His voice seemed to echo, though there was nothing for it to echo from… it was more of a quiet response of pity on the lost soul from the ocean.

On an island not so far away, Misty heard a faint call, fading towards her from the south. Her heart skipped a beat for what seemed like an eternity as she realized how familiar it seemed. She put her hand to her chest, waiting momentarily for her heart to restart, then ran towards the south shore of the tiny oasis, her heart pounding and a shine that was both a forming tear and a glimmer of hope forming in her eye. She dove into the cool salt water, pushing herself through it without a thought or care to the random pokémon in the lagoon around her. She didn't even notice the tentacool following her. All that she cared, was the one thought in her mind as she raced along. _I'm coming Ash… I'm coming._

*singing* **I am evil!!!** Ya-ahooie! And no, brock, I did not copy you. Neva heard of you, or ya story.ok, review PLEASE, ja ne to heiwa ai Lyra-chan.


	3. 3

*sigh* New Year… big whoop… *isn't sure whether she just doesn't care or is still bugged by having no real boyfriend* Well, anyway, here's the next chapter of the hopefully getting less depressing fic.  
The next chapter of Human is up now, too. *needs ideas for that desperately, her old plan died*

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Ocean of Tears

Lyra Kamiya

Misty groaned and rolled over, reaching one hand up to her forehead. _What happened? One second I was swimming, and the next… I guess a Tentacool got me…_ she thought, wincing as she set her fingers to her forehead. She opened her eyes and glanced around, slightly confused, as she realized there was something tied over the injury, it's texture like jeans.

"You slept long enough…" came a voice from behind her. She spun around and faced the voice, her breathing seizing up and tears welling in her eyes as she saw the familiar black hair and tan face of her best friend. With a weak smile, she thrust herself forward and threw her arms around him.

"I found you… thank goodness," she whispered, then sat back up and away from him, watching for his reaction.

"You know me?"

Misty's heart sank. It was him, it had to be. This boy looked and sounded like him, had the same clothes… there was no way it couldn't be… "Ash? Don't you recognize me? It's me, Misty… I'm not that worse for wear from the ocean, am I?"

"I wouldn't know. Have a look at yourself," he shrugged, holding out the pokédex who's shiny plastic screen worked well as a mirror.

__

This is Ash's pokédex, even. It has to be him! "No, I look normal… but the bandage makes me look like Tracey…"

"Who?"

Misty turned to look at the look of confusion on the boy's face. He honestly didn't know… he seriously didn't have any idea who she was, or any of their other friends were. "Ash…" she said softly, closing her eyes. She'd found him, but lost him before she could.

"You keep calling me that. Then is that really my name?"

"Yes, what did you think it was?"

"I thought that was it, but I had only gotten it from that pokédex thing, so I wasn't sure," he shrugged, then pulled out half a coconut from behind him. "I kinda figured that whoever you were, you'd be hungry when you woke up, so I went and found some food for us."

"Thanks, Ash," she said, taking it from him and casually debating if she was hungry in the back of her mind. She looked up finally, surprised to see Ash staring right at her. "What is it?"

"I don't know, you just seem so… familiar. What did you say your name was?"

"Misty," she repeated, sitting up straight so he could examine her to jog his lost memory if needed.

*Phone rings as she finishes* Yeah? Hey Eikyu(his code name from Q4H), yeah it's me. What's up? Um, new stories? You know nothings ever up. The pool?! Today?! But there's all that snow… date? Um, well, if you mean it that way, sure! See you at 1! *hangs up* YAHOOOOOOOO!!!! Even if it is Psychomon, I've got a date! (My first, gimme a break) Only reviews can make me even happier right now.


	4. 4

… Someone said they thought this was a BAML… LOL like I'd ever write one! Misty is with no one but Ash. Ash ever dies off, she marries Richie. Misty ever dies off, Ash gets Duplica. That's my brain. Ok, baibai now… And lugia I hope this gets better again.

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Ocean of Tears

Lyra Kamiya

Somewhere far, far away, Ash was laughing as hard as he could, rolling along the beach in a wrestling match. He wasn't sure how he'd gotten into the little fight, he only knew that he was quite enjoying it. With another chuckle, he threw all his weight to one side, sending them both tumbling again so that he ended up pinning her down. This time, however, she wasn't being to successful at rolling them back over. She smirked at him, pondering his next move. He smiled and lowered his face to his, gently setting his lips on hers and reveling in their sweet taste and softness. He pulled away briefly, smiling with a puppy-eyes stare at her before continuing the Growlithe impression by licking her nose before placing his lips back to hers. He felt her arms slowly envelop him…

Lugia, it was all so real… so why wasn't it? Was it only a dream, or some distant memory of life the way it'd been before they'd been stranded on this desert island. He'd only just met the girl, in this life as he knew it. But somehow he knew he'd known her before, or at least hoped it…

Misty turned slowly, feeling Ash's eyes on her back. She looked at the vacant expression on his face when she flashed a trademark smile at him… He was so, different, so… not him, it was unsettling. She sighed softly and lay on her stomach on the beach, finally allowing the tears to fall again. She'd found him, and hadn't died in the process… He wasn't dead! But now, it was like he might as well be… he remembered nothing, about her, them, their past, even himself. It was especially tragic to her to hear him stutter a confused 'what?' when she mentioned Pikachu. All night, she'd slept as he slowly rocked her in his arms, once she'd fallen asleep leaning against him. Little memories had returned to him, but not much yet… With any luck, if they could ever get back to civilization, other familiar things could bring him back. She turned back towards him slightly, careful not to let him see the sadness in her eyes, and studied the look on his face. Some how, it was the same old semi-clueless expression he'd always worn. He seemed just like the Ash she'd always known. And slowly, it hit her… It _was_ the same Ash, minus his memories or not. She still loved him, just the same. It was almost disturbing to her to realize this, and it only made the tears flow master. Then, came what she was *definitely* not prepared for.

"Misty… what were we? What was I to you?" he asked calmly, like it was something people asked every day of their lives. Misty bit her lip, struggling not to loose all self control and start sobbing hard.

"Friends, Ash… j-just best friends," she said, her voice quivering as she was forced to bury her eyes onto her arm, gasping for breath as she silently cried more than she could ever remember doing.

"That's… what I thought. But not what I remembered…" Misty froze and turned her head to the windswept boy, so startled by the line that she forgot she was supposed to be crying. "I remember… watching you, late one night, when we were camping out, and you came over and laid down beside me, and fell asleep beside me… I don't know why I'd remember this, but… you smelled like raspberries that night. It was kind of strange, because it occurred to me that you normally smelled like the ocean…." Another tear fell from Misty's eye, and her lip quivered as she put her head back down on her arm for a moment, sobbing quietly, before sitting up and staring at Ash through blurry eyes for a moment. She wiped away the remaining tears from her face, staring off over the ocean again for a moment.

"You know what tears are made of?" she asked suddenly.

"Salt water…"

"And the ocean? What about it?"

"Salt water… so?" Misty turned back to him and just laughed once, lightly, and shook her head slowly.

"I don't know, honestly… but I'll figure it out."

**********

"I'm glad we managed to find you. If anyone can find Ash, it'll be you!"

"Laaaapuuuu!!!"

**********

Misty yelped as something cold hit her foot, and the sensation disappeared instantly. "Ash… come look at this, will ya?" she hollered, spotting something floating in a tide pool along the beach. He looked up and came limping over to her, struggling on his apparently stung leg, and looked to where she was pointing with her foot due to full arms.

"Looks like a Tentacool… well, a dead one…"

"that's not really what I meant… the water, around it… it's… strange," Misty concluded, not knowing any other way to put it.

"A bit metallic?" Ash suggested, shrugging and sounding more intelligent than his old self, who would have simply said 'shiny'.

"Yeah, I guess… but here, just put your toe or finger in it…"

"In the Tentacool?!" he demanded, squinting at her in hopes of determining her motives.

__

Alright, *that* was the Ash I know… "No, I mean the water," she rolled her eyes and watched cautiously as Ash bent over and stuck the tips of his fingers into the altered liquid… the coolness of the water hit him in a flash, and then… nothing. All sensation left his fingers, and quickly the rest of his hand, leaving him shuddering and attempting to shake it out, only to find that it took a moment or two for him to move his fingers again.

"What the?! For the love of Ho-oh!"

"I think it's because of the Tentacool's poison… Something punctured it after it died and the water got effected…"

"If that was diluted, I'd hate to be stung by that thing…" Ash complained, shaking his hand still and rubbing it slowly. He glanced up at the worried expression on Misty's face. "That's not the normal effects of Tentacool poison, is it?"

"Not where I'm from. Paralyzing, yes, but not to that extremity… only the strongest of Tentacruel would be able to do that, and at that only the strength of the diluted version. If the Tentacool around here are that strong, and I doubt that through some fluke only that one was," Misty gulped, going through her thoughts slowly, "I'd hate to see what one of the local Tentacruel could do. Wait."

"What now? My hand still doesn't feel right, I don't need to stick anything else in there," Ash whined, clenching his fist a few times.

"You said you thought you got stung by a Tentacruel, right? That's what happened to your leg, shoulder, and head, is what you guessed?"

"Yeah…"

"And I was out for what, a day and a half? After I got stung by a Tentacool…"

"Oh my Lugia… so you think that that's what caused it? The strengthened poison?" Ash pondered, catching on to the series of events.

"Exactly. It may even be what caused your amnesia, in which case the effects will eventually wear off, just like your hand came back from being numb."

"You think it numbed my brain?"

"Most of it… you seem, I don't know, a bit smarter than you used to be. So what I'm thinking, is that whatever isn't normally in use gets the opposite effect from whatever kind of poison this is."

"Which is why I'm suddenly aware of the fact that my fingernails cause pressure on my fingers?" Ash demanded, shaking his hand more extravagantly and whining randomly. Misty sighed, leading Ash back to their campsite, after shoving a piece of wood into the beach for a marker of that spot. The clues were falling together, one by one…

Ok, um, shortness, yes… this was actually supposed to be the last section of the previous chapter, but I wasn't sure if I was going to be online again this month so I posted that part in a panic. I'm trying not to make this a ripoff of the Flame Burns Deep (Kawaii AAML) or something else I read (it was a what if thing) -_- so SUGGESTIONS would be APPRECIATED *hint hint* ^_~ and rewarded with shoutouts, perhaps… Review at least, please!!!


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